Snape's funeral: The Elder Wand
by Sandory
Summary: As everyone mourns for Snape, someone arrives and something unexpected happens... Well now that the truth has been revealed, how is Harry going to stop such invicinble danger loosed upon the world? A danger even Albus Dumbledore did not know...
1. Snape's funeral

**A/N: Hi, this is my first Harry Potter fic ever. I love Snape! Tune in to find out more because this isn't the end.:)**

Snape's funeral had been held separately from the other victims after Lord Voldermort's death, as though to honour him and pay him the respect he had deserved and never earned from everyone else. Everyone had turned up to mourn for the death of the man they believed to be evil, the man Dumbledore has rightfully trusted to everyone's disbelief.

Next to Harry, his giant friend Hagrid was sobbing uncontrollably, with a tissue in his hand. He blew his nose so hard and loud that Ron and Hermoine standing in front of them turned, Hermoine frowning with concern and Ron glaring out of annoyance. Harry slowly reached out his arm to pat Hagrid on the back silently.

Harry never thought he would feel such emptiness and pain at the death of the man he had loathed the most. He imagined that he would have revelled and celebrated, but here he was forcing the tears not to flow down his cheek.

He had no idea what was wrong with him. All his life, he had hated this man. Snape had taunted him, had called his father arrogant and had humiliated him countless of times in Hogwarts. Surely, even if Snape _had been _Dumbledore's man, Harry would not forgive him…

But no, Snape was not only Dumbledore's man, Snape was in love with Lily Evans, Harry's mother. And it pained Harry to remember what Snape had said to Dumbledore in the pensieve.

"Always."

He had never stopped loving her, and Harry found himself realising that the man whom he thought could not love was the man who loved the most…

"G –great ch – chap, Snape was," Hagrid stuttered in between his sobs when it was his turn to say a word or two about Snape.

"He was Dumbledore's man… Always had been," Professor Mcgonagall said tearfully, but otherwise her face was composed and expressionless.

It was Harry's turn to speak. But as he opened his mouth, he felt like he was being knocked by a sudden pain that numbed him to the ground. He stared at everyone for a while, thinking he might break down any moment.

"We were all wrong about him," Harry said fiercely. "Dumbledore was right… He wasn't a hero, but he wasn't a villain either… He was… A man who sacrificed everything…"

Harry's voice trailed off.

"… Lily Evans… Like my Mum…"

When he finished off, he realised his face was not the only one streaked with tears. Everyone watching him and listening to him had begun to cry silently, touched by what he had said.

**SEVERUS TOBIAS SNAPE**

**9th January 1960 - 1st May 1998**

**Died a Great Man, a Great Hero**

"**I trust Severus Snape completely." **

**A gift from Albus Dumbledore bestowed upon only Severus Snape.**

Hours after Severus Snape's funeral, Harry spotted an unexpected, old friend snooping around.


	2. Enemies or Frenemies?

**A/N: Thanks for the information on Snape's death. I went to check the HP lexicon after that! The surprise is not over yet...;)**

The atmosphere in the graveyard was cold and gray after the funeral. Harry knelt down to the marble tombstone as he planted down three white lilies on Snape's grave, holding back his tears. He had told Ron and Hermoine to go back to the school castle without him but now he felt someone's presence behind him.

Turning around, he tried to hide the shock in his face, seeing a boy of his age with white blond hair staring at him with cold gray eyes, his mother holding him affectionately with his father by his side.

"I'm surprised you came," Harry finally spoke, breaking the ice.

"He was my friend too, Harry," Lucius Malfoy replied softly. "Even after everything."

Draco Malfoy edged closer to the tombstone, his usually icy eyes now a watery gray. Harry moved a little to the left to make way for him, unsure of what to feel or what to say now. He had never liked the Malfoys or trusted them, but right now, he was too tired to go on hating. He had hated Snape and was going to remember it very painfully, maybe even regret it his whole life.

Draco opened his mouth but no words came out. He looked up to his mother, unable to express his sadness except with his eyes, and his mother wrapped her arms around his head as he let out a muffled cry.

"He protected my son," Narcissa said in a trembling voice. "I – I wouldn't have known what to do…"

"He was a good man," Harry felt he had to add.

Narcissa nodded.

"I was going to die that night," Draco said blankly, speaking for the first time, his eyes fixed on the marble slab.

"What night?" Harry asked, staring at the boy.

"The night I led the death eaters into the castle…," he said, pausing as though to imagine and relive that night again.

"The night Dumbledore was killed," Harry said, trying to suppress the anger that shot up out of nowhere.

"I would have died," Draco croaked.

Harry knew why but could not utter a word because his insides had gone numb. The mention of Dumbledore by Draco froze him and he was afraid he would explode if he spoke now.

"I couldn't do it," Draco went on. "I tried to summon as much hate as I could, but I _couldn't._ I was too weak."

"Killing isn't as easy as the innocent believes," Harry simply said when he had found his voice.

Taken aback by Dumbledore's quote, Harry just stared coldly at him.

"I was there too, and I saw everything," Harry said rather icily. "Snape did it, because Dumbledore told him to."

Draco just stared at him, his mouth agape.

Harry went on. "Dumbledore wanted Snape to finish him off, not you. He didn't want you to be a killer. You'd have turned into a killer if you had done it…"

Draco's grey eyes were brimming with tears now and so were Narcissa's.

"After everything I did to kill him, why?" he said, his eyes wide with confusion.

"Everyone deserves a second chance," Harry stated, but his mind flickered to remembering how Snape was given a second chance to make things right and how Dumbledore had been given a chance to be good. "He gave you a second chance because he was a good man. And a good wizard. The elder wand should have belonged to him, which is why I have returned it to him. Gave up my hold over it… I don't want it…"

"You gave up the elder wand?" Lucius said sharply.

Harry took the broken elder wand out of his pocket. "No, it's here, but I reckoned I should return it to him. It should have been his."

"I don't think so, Harry," Lucius said coldly.

Harry stared at him, shocked, and saw the greedy gleam in his gray eyes. He moved further to the left where there was free space to make a run for it but Lucius stepped into his way quickly.

"Give the wand, Harry," he said menacingly.

Harry spun around to the right side, ready to break into a run but Malfoy lifted his wand and pointed it at a tall white oak tree, which fell right before Harry, blocking his way. Harry whipped around to face Draco, an utterly bewildered expression on his face, his heart jumping spastically. Draco's face was ashen and pale, his grey eyes still tearful.

"Sorry, Potter," he said in a strangled voice.

Harry was knocked off his feet by an invisible force, followed by a kick in his stomach by Lucius Malfoy. He could not tell what was exactly happening but he could hear Narcissa screaming, Lucius' gruff voice and Lucius' hands searching him for the wand. He groaned in pain as another spell rocked him to the side.

"WHERE IS THE OTHER HALF?" Lucius roared.

"Lucius, don't –," Narcissa cried but Lucius cut her off.

"Whose _side_ are you on?" he glowered at her.

"Harry saved our lives, Lucius!" she retorted indignantly.

"Don't argue with me, Snape would have wanted this!" Lucius yelled, furious with her for arguing back.

He pulled Narcissa's forearm roughly but she wrenched her arm away from him, giving him a scorching look.

"Wanted _what? _This for Lily's son?" she said venomously.

"Draco, drag him," Lucius said calmly to his son, before turning back to his wife. "You have no idea, do you? I'll show you something, just stop being mad at me. This is what Snape wants."

Draco did not argue with his father and dragged Harry with them, trudging slowly behind his parents who were deliberately ignoring each other. As soon as they were out of Hogwarts' boundary, they apparated together. Feeling sick, Harry thought he was about to throw up as Lucius Malfoy gripped his arm tightly like a pincer's claw.


	3. Down The Malfoy Manor

**A/N: Thanks guys for the suggestions to improve. Thank you LilAl260 for pointing out that having two Malfoys made the story confusing so I improvised and decided to use their first names now. Lucius is still acting mysterious here...what is he really up to? And let's hope Harry's not in any big trouble.;)**

Harry felt sick with dizziness as he landed on yellow marble floor that seemed particularly familiar to him. Rubbing his head to ease the throb that threatened to explode his head, he surveyed the surroundings and realised he was at none other than the Malfoy's Manor with the recognizable painting of a Malfoy wizard with white blonde hair staring pointedly out of his portrait. Suddenly, he felt someone graving his hair from behind, pulling it so hard that Harry cried out in pain.

"Where's the other half of the wand?" Lucius growled from behind him, finally releasing his jet-black hair.

Harry's hand dived into his pocket, searching for the other half of the Elder wand but he only found nothingness. He turned his head to scan the room which he was in but no sign of the wand. Lucius stared at him impatiently.

"Well, where is it?" Lucius snarled an ugly look on his face. "I don't have all day, you know, Potter."

When Harry did not answer, Lucius knocked him to the floor angrily and Harry whipped around to face Lucius as he lay on the floor, looking furious.

"Look, I don't know," Harry snapped angrily. "Quit hitting me if you want your wand!"

Lucius bent to edge closer to him so that his face was just inches away from Harry's. His eyes were narrowed and when he spoke, it was with a malicious tone that sent shivers down Harry's spine.

"Either way, you're going to give me that wand."

Just then, Narcissa entered and cleared her throat, causing Lucius to turn his attention away from Harry. She beckoned them forward with her hand before exiting. Lucius dragged Harry by the arm but Harry tried to pull his arm away as his arm was already sore from Lucius' previous grip during the apparation, but Lucius only tightened his grip, resulting in Harry clenching his jaw in silent agony.

They entered another room on the same floor which had another door to probably another room. But what caught Harry's attention was the large black stony cauldron that was about half the size of Harry. Lucius and Narcissa stepped towards the cauldron, with Harry following suit, looking inside the cauldron. The water was unnaturally still…

Narcissa held out a tube of white silvery liquid towards the cauldron and opened the tube, tipping the liquid into the still water. The water stirred for a while, then it went back to being still again. This was all too familiar to Harry but he could not quite put a finger on it. Then a picture began forming in the water, a picture of real people, and it was a moving picture, and all of a sudden, it struck a realisation deep in Harry's thoughts.

A pensieve.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked, staring at both Lucius and Narcissa.

"Down memory lane," Lucius said quietly, his eyes boring into Harry's like a predator's.

Harry looked around him. "Where's Malfoy?"

"Stop asking questions, Potter, as though I'm obliged to answer you," Lucius said threateningly. "You don't get to ask or know until I let you."

With that, the three of them plunged into the pensieve and as much as Harry was furious, he was more confused and curious to know what this memory lane which Lucius wanted to show him was all about. Soon enough, his surroundings had changed and he realised that he was in Hogwarts now.

He saw a teenage Lucius Malfoy walking pompously in the Great Hall towards the Slytherin tables, his white blond hair cropped short, and his face as pale as the Lucius who was standing next to Harry. There was a shiny silvery badge on his chest and Harry knew immediately that he was a prefect. With a jolt, Harry spotted Dumbledore, smiling with his twinkly blue eyes at a group of students who appeared to look like first-graders. The students were standing around nervously, floating in the middle of nowhere and it was now apparent to Harry, especially when he saw the sorting hat in front of Dumbledore, that it was a first day of school at Hogwarts.

As the Sorting Ceremony progressed, Harry was being bored, until he saw the next student who was being called. The student was tiny in size, looked comical in his black robes and had a characteristic large nose that seemed to have a hook at its end.

"SEVERUS SNAPE!"

Snape, who happened to be conversing with a redhead with jade green eyes whom Harry was sure was Lily Evans, moved forward nervously towards the sorting hat. When the sorting hat was placed on the greasy hair on his head, Harry knew what it was going to scream.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat's voice boomed, and the table full of Slytherins erupted in roars and cheers.

Snape walked towards the Slytherin table hurriedly, but not before giving Lily a nervous smile, to which she responded by holding up her thumb to give him a thumbs up.

The scene suddenly blurred, and began to morph into another place.

"I was in my fifth year then," Lucius said in a deadpan voice as though he felt that things had not gotten interesting yet. "He was just another new student. I never thought he would become the greatest death eater of all time…"

"He was never," Harry replied sharply, but Lucius only chuckled to himself, allowing a mocking smile to grace his lips.

"You should see maybe for yourself, Harry," Lucius smiled cunningly. "How he spoke so _ambitiously…"_

Harry almost shuddered as the scene finally formed to reveal the Malfoy's Manor, which looked exactly the same as the current one, except that the flooring and walls were not as bright, and the portrait of the Malfoy wizard had not been hung up … because he was still alive.

The Malfoy wizard, Lucius and Snape were eating at the same large dining table that was in the Malfoy's Manor. Harry, Lucius and Narcissa sat around large empty spaces around the table as they listened into the conversation.

The Malfoy wizard was smiling knowingly at Lucius as he poked his fork into his meat, speaking in a gruff voice with a strong accent, "So tell me, Severus, tell me!"

Snape smiled humbly as he swallowed the food in his mouth to answer. He looked older and taller than in the previous scene that Harry guessed that he was most probably in his third year.

"I'm following Lucius after my years in Hogwarts, sir," Snape simply said, cocking his head slightly towards Lucius.

Lucius gave the Malfoy wizard a small smile.

"He's on our side, father."

The Malfoy wizard merely nodded his head, looking rather pleased. Harry finally knew now who the wizard was. It was Abraxas Malfoy, the grandfather of Draco Malfoy, and of course father to Lucius.

Then the scene changed with dramatic speed…

Abraxas was glaring at his son, "I told you. I told you NOT to trust him."

Lucius was silent, but his lip was curled as though he was biting back to argue.

"He is NOT trustworthy! Do you UNDERSTAND me?" Abraxas bellowed, his face turning a tinge of purple with rage.

"But I _do _trust him," Lucius said vehemently through clenched teeth, shaking his father's shoulders slightly.

His father shook him away, looking at him and not bothering to hide the disgusted look on his face. "Then let that be the death of you, see if I care."

With that, Abraxas stormed out, leaving Lucius staring after him, a wounded look in his eyes.

Then, the scene dissolved, and Narcissa pulled herself out of the pensieve and Harry and Lucius followed after her. Harry was still gasping for breath when Lucius dragged him to the small wooden door at the side of the room, opening it to reveal a spiral staircase which led to darkness.

Harry felt the cold stone walls around him with his hands, his mind registering that it was a very dark and cold dungeon. Lucius pushed him to the floor and as Harry could not see anything but the colour black, he fell to the floor, his heart thumping fast. His eyes darted around the dungeon madly, searching for Lucius but he found nothing.

"What do you want?" Harry shouted and he winced at the echo his voice made.

"Only one thing from you," Lucius' voice sounded more menacing in the dark.

"You're not getting anything," Harry seethed with cold anger.

"You're going to be very wrong, Harry," Lucius said self-righteously. "That wand you broke has everything to do with my father and Snape, and nothing to do with that old crackpot Albus Dumbledore. He was ignorant to think it was his, and you are just as ignorant."

With that, he closed the door, but not before saying in a taunting voice, "Have fun, Harry. You will be having quite a long stay here, anyway… if you don't give me that wand…"

"I don't care about you or your father," Harry yelled furiously.

But the door closed, and his voice only met silence and darkness.


	4. What Kind of Danger?

**A/N: I'm really sorry for the delay, after my exams were over, I went for a short holiday to this resort. I feel really bad for the delay..:( **

**More flashbacks through the pensieves. I know we have not seen yet what is so significant about Snape's death to Lucius' hunt for the Elder Wand, but it'll definitely be revealed. Is it possible that Dumbledore did not know about the Elder Wand as much as he thought he did?;) **

Looking around in the pitch black emptiness that had become his home now, Harry tried to feel for anything that was not cold hard stone. It was surprisingly calm, especially to be away from the wrath of Lucius Malfoy. Initially, all sorts of weird, hideous thoughts and imaginations came flying to Harry, implanting vivid horror in his heart but after what seemed like a few days, the fear somewhat abated, leaving a mysteriously calm Harry.

He had lost track of time because he was no longer sure how long he had been in the dungeon – it could have been a few hours, a few days or even weeks. There were no windows for sunlight to seep in to separate day and night, only the timed visits from Draco Malfoy who would enter nervously to push a glass of water into Harry's hand. He would watch Harry drink it and take it back once Harry was done perhaps, Harry reckoned, because they did not want to give Harry any form of way of hurting himself or attempting to escape.

Harry was hungry too – he was _ravenous_ and this, he had not expected. Becoming too weak to even move around and furiously turn the door knob which he had found through feeling the walls with his hands, he lay on his back on the cold stone floor, closing his eyes, trying hard not to think of the next few days.

Then, he heard footsteps, getting louder and louder. The loud metallic clicking sound of a key being turned in a lock, followed by the sound of the door knob turning. The door opened.

"Well, Harry, are you ready to tell me where the other half is?" whispered Lucius.

There was no malice in his voice, no menace. He seemed calm, perhaps even confident that Harry will relent and tell him where it was. Problem is, Harry frankly did not know where on earth it was. It must have dropped somewhere… but where?

"Harry, you've been in here for thirteen days," spoke Lucius again as confident as ever, like a supervisor who had everything under control. "Be wise and give me that broken stick, Harry."

"_I don't know," _said Harry through clenched teeth as he sat up straight to face Lucius who was standing in the narrow beam of light that slipped through the tiny opening of the door that stood ajar.

"You don't know?" repeated Lucius, his cold eyes contracting to narrow slits of gray. "I'm not going to take that for an answer. I need that broken piece, you understand?"

"Well, I can't help you," retorted Harry fiercely. "And even if I could –"

Before Harry had finished his words, Lucius had hoisted him roughly by the collar to level Harry's face to his. Staring into the icy gray eyes that were opaque like the foggy glass windows in a misty, snowy night, he could see the insanity evidently somewhere behind those glass windows.

"What?" challenged Lucius threateningly. "If you could, you wouldn't? Is that it, Harry? You broke that wand without thinking of the consequences. Not only is the wand unusable now, but you released the danger that the wand has always kept away from the world."

Releasing him, Lucius saw that Harry was staring at him, the defiance in his dark eyes gone, replaced by what could be credited as curiosity. For the first time, Harry was entertaining the thought of looking for the other half, perhaps deluded by the idea that there was a possibility, however faint it may be that Lucius might be right after all…

"What danger?" spoke Harry slowly, but still not letting his guard down.

"Only Severus and I knew of this danger," replied Lucius, looking away, a hard expression on his face. "No one else knew. Not even that know-it-all Dumbledore. So are you going to help me, Harry?"

"And if I don't? Will you kill me?"

It was a mere question. There were times when Harry and probably many other tortured wizards, held captives by Death Eaters in the past when Voldermort reigned, thought that death was a much kinder fate.

Lucius tilted his head to one side, now gazing at Harry, looking as though he was considering. There was a menacing glint in his eyes. "Maybe. Maybe I won't. Have you ever thought of that?"

The words sent a chill to Harry's spine as a voice in Harry's head whispered, _Maybe he won't. Have you ever thought of that? _However, Lucius did not seem to notice the terrified clamor he had put up in Harry. Dragging Harry by the arm out of the dungeon, up the spiral stairs and into the room Harry had last been in since his capture, Lucius walked over to the other door of the room to close it before stepping towards the pensieve and pouring a silvery liquid from a test tube in his hand into it.

"I think it's time you and I go in alone."

On the count of three, they plunged into the pensieve's still water.

There was a young man with flaming, red hair speaking to what apparently seemed like a young Abraxas Malfoy. They were in the Malfoy's Manor, having an animated, upbeat chat. The man with Auburn hair seemed familiar to Harry for unknown reasons.

"How's wandlore going for you there?" chortled Abraxas.

"Good, very good," nodded the redhead. "Want to see something?"

He pulled out a wand from his pocket and immediately, Harry recognised it as the Elder Wand. Who was this man and why was the wand in his possession? And how? Waiting to be impressed, Abraxas braced himself for something magnificent but the disappointment followed quickly.

"Oh, a wand," said Abraxas colourlessly as the redhead handed him the wand to study it.

"Not just any wand, Ab," chirped the redhead, laughing at his friend's puzzlement. "It's the Elder Wand, you fool! Can't you tell!"

Abaxas' head snapped up, staring at his friend, his face now serious and grave.

"The… Elder Wand?" breathed Abraxas slowly and when the redhead nodded happily, he said again in the same tone, "No… joke, Pete?"

"No! I'm not pulling your leg!" the redhead rolled his eyes though he still looked amused. "It's real, I got it from this man… He came in, wanted me to repair his wand. Only thing, it wasn't broken actually. Just the ends of the stick was coming off but other than that it was in good condition. I'm serious! I took a look at it, and I know for sure it was the Elder Wand. I mean, I've been studying wandlore since I left Hogwarts five years ago – of course I recognised it."

Abraxas was looking at him a little dubiously but seemed to enjoy his friend spinning a tale for him for he was still smiling.

"And this man – whoever he was – just _gave _it to you?"

"Hell, no!" said the redhead enthusiastically. "This man was quite the fool actually, didn't think he knew what the wand was. But he didn't just give it to me, he wanted me, the wandmaker, to fix it so of course I would have to return it. Only, I duplicated it and gave him the replica. He took it. Took it, didn't notice anything strange and never came back to see me."

The redhead seemed utterly contented with himself while Abraxas still had the look of wonderment all over his face.

"Are you – saying – that the Elder Wand – can be – DUPLICATED?" asked Abraxas, souding so excited and there was no mistaking the greedy glee in his voice.

But the redhead shook his head. "You can duplicate this wand. Have as many as you like. But to duplicate its power… is practically impossible. I've tried."

The scene changed to a green, grassy area where there were no other souls except Abraxas and the redhead, standing next to a large, lone tree. They were staring up at the tree, running their fingers down the thick, rough gray bark.

"The Elder tree…," said Abraxas in awe.

The redhead merely nodded, his face serious for the first time.

"Maybe… maybe this is the source of power!" exclaimed Abraxas. "The power you thought could not be duplicated!"

"Maybe," said the redhead in reply although his face painted a picture of doubts.

Then, the scene dissolved and Lucius pulled Harry and himself out of the pensieve. There was a strange look on his face; it was as though his body was in this room but his mind was elsewhere.

"Who was that?" asked Harry finally, the curiosity building up in his head he thought it might implode soon.

His question startled Lucius who seemed to awaken from wherever his mind had been.

"That's right… I'll get the next test tube," said Lucius quickly, who had probably not heard Harry's question. "You sit and wait, Potter. Don't do anything stupid. Don't ask anything stupid. You'll know soon enough… and remember, you're allowed to know because you're going to get me that other half…"

Harry fell silent and Lucius left the room, slamming the door behind him hard enough for the neighbours to have heard, if the neighbours were not muggles. But before the door slam, his pale face poked into the tiny opening, staring at Harry with his predatory gray eyes.

"Remember, Potter. I might kill you. _I might not_."


	5. Down Memory Lane No more

**A/N: Bear with this chapter, the truth will be revealed. So sit tightly and buckle up! Ha.. Before you read, I must add that there is less than usual narration because it is Lucius narrating now. Do not be too surprised! I do not own Harry Potter or anything here, this is AU.**

After about ten minutes which gave Harry ample time to dwell far away into his thoughts, Lucius re-entered the room without his test tube, looking rather annoyed. He moved past Harry, nudging him forcefully on the shoulder, as he advanced towards the pensieve. He stared at it for a long while as though contemplating something.

"We don't have much time. It could be anywhere," he muttered to himself, his eyes lingering on the still water in the pensieve.

Soon after collecting his thoughts, he spun around to face Harry.

"We don't have any more time to waste, Potter," said Lucius hastily, looking from right to left as though he was going mad. "I don't have time to show anything anymore. We're going up to my study. And take this. Don't start now, you idiot. Do it when we're walking outside where Narcissa can see you."

He handed Harry a large rectangular cheese hamburger before they walked out and for the first time, he did not clamp his pincer-like hand around Harry's arm. As they moved up to the second floor, Narcissa hurried towards them the first chance she got. Seeing his apprehensive wife, Lucius merely nodded his head in greeting, trying his best to look innocent as though Harry was perfectly fine and hardly abused. As if on cue, Harry took a large bite from the sandwich he had been eyeing for what seemed like a long time. Although he no longer felt hungry, Harry certainly was craving for something delicious to fill his stomach that had been empty for thirteen good days.

Narcissa seemed to relax, having noted that at least the boy managed to eat. Smiling in approval, she swiftly left them without a word of complaint.

They entered the study room which was a high-ceiling, grand-looking room. It could have easily been mistaken as the Headmaster's office in Hogwarts. Lucius sat behind a glassy desk, beckoning Harry to sit before him. Harry moved forward nervously when the picture frame on the left corner of the desk caught his eye – a very happy Lucius watching a Quidditch match at the Quidditch cup with a beaming Abraxas and a smiling Severus Snape. What intrigued Harry most was the smile on Snape's face – it looked warm and _real _even, unlike the usual cold sneers Harry was accustomed to in Potions Class.

"Sit down, Harry," said Lucius in a carefully controlled voice, but it was clear to Harry that he had lost any bit of patience he might have had left in him.

Harry sat down, looking at him, holding the gray eyes' cold gaze.

"That man was Peter Gregorovitch," explained Lucius calmly, his eyes boring into Harry's. "My father knew him. An old school friend of his. Then, Peter showed him the Elder Wand."

The name 'Gregorovitch' echoed in Harry's head like a struck piano key as Harry realised finally that the red-haired man was the famous wandmaker, Gregorovitch, though the redness of his hair had faded away to a shade of alabaster white. Lucius went on.

"My father… let's just say my father was very excited – a little greedy, some would call it. He wanted replicas – many, many of it but Peter knew for sure there was no way to duplicate its powers. And why it was so, even Peter did not know.

"But at that time, my father was working with dragons. You see, my father died from a very rare illness – dragon pox. One could only contract it after working so closely with these creatures. Only a few years later after Peter had showed it to him, after being an expert in dragons did my father recognise the powers of the wand Peter had brought to him. Well, luckily, Peter brought it to him. Imagine if it had been in the hand of another dragon expert… disastrous."

Harry stared at Lucius, not sure what or where he was getting at. He opened his mouth to ask but Lucius raised a hand to silence him for he was not done speaking.

"Do you know what kind of wand that is, Harry?" asked Lucius, finally allowing Harry to talk.

"It was made by Death. Not of any animal," answered Harry when he tried to remember what he knew of the wand from The Tales of Beetle and the Bard.

"True," nodded Lucius. "It was not made from any animal. But Death created this wand? Don't you think that sounds very shady? Or silly even to you?"

Harry had no reply to that because truth be told, it did sound a little ridiculous too.

"When my father found out what that wand was – or rather, what was _in_ the wand – he told Peter. Peter was not sure whether to believe him but he was an expert in wandlore and knew it was possible – maybe even probable. Then, they visited the Elder tree together, the tree that was used to make the Elder wand.

"True enough, not too far away, there it was! A cave! A very, very big cave. A dragon was said to have lived there for a long time. Even my father knew of that dragon – it was the longest living snake of all time, the ancestors of the runespoors and basilisks. A white serpent named Misery."

Harry felt a little numbed as though his brain had been programmed in such a way that Lucius' information was being rejected and shut away. What kind of danger was Lucius speaking of?

"Severus and I became buddies very quickly in his first year. But then, Severus met Lily," said Lucius, almost wrinkling his nose with distaste. "You should have known it by now right, Potter? I needn't tell you. Severus was in love with Lily."

There was something strangely bitter about his voice.

"When we were in school, the Dark Lord had already begun taking over the world. My father told us about the Elder Wand, which he had decided to leave alone for he knew it was indeed very dangerous. We swore not to tell anyone… because it was too dangerous if too many people knew. The greed, the power…it was to die for, to kill for. It was terrible," said Lucius, his knuckled whitening slightly.

"Severus followed my path in becoming a Death Eater. But when the Dark Lord began plotting his love's death, he turned his back on the Dark Lord. Seeked our help. I remember that night so vividly when he pleaded for the Elder Wand so he could protect Lily Evans. My father refused to do so – my father was not a fan of muggle-borns," said Lucius coldly.

"But Snape threatened to tell the world about it – tell even the Dark Lord about it. Imagine the kind of wrath we would have to endure from keeping something so powerful and important away from the Dark Lord…," continued Lucius, his face paler than a corpse. "My father had no choice. No choice but to ask Peter for it. We had no idea at all that the wand had been stolen…

"When Snape knew, he walked out on us. He said sorry to me – never wanted any of this but he had no choice. Then, he left. And he became _Dumbledore's man. _My father lost faith in him, even hated him. I did too, but I told myself to continue trusting my old buddy."

Harry sat in silence for a moment before Lucius carried on, his words hard and harsh now.

"You know what that means, Potter? No one knows about this, not even Dumbledore, nor the Dark Lord. If this snake goes out, _everyone dies_."

Lucius got up immediately to rummage through his drawer, searching for something. So many questions were bombarding Harry's head now so that it throbbed a little with pain.

"That snake will kill everyone?" asked Harry nervously from his seat.

Lucius looked up, an irked expression on his face, similar to a teacher being annoyed by a student's silly question.

"Yes, Potter," answered an exasperated Lucius before resuming his search. "My father concluded that the snake was probably asleep before that – before being in that stick."

Finally, Lucius pulled out a large parchment and the irritation on his face vanished. He unfolded it and held it out for Harry to see.

"The map," said Lucius before Harry could ask. "Map to the hill where the Elder Tree and the cave are…"

Harry stared at Lucius, shocked. A feeling of dread of crept over him.

"What… what do you mean?" stuttered Harry.

"You know what I mean," snapped Lucius. "You know, I'm getting very tired of your lame questions, Potter. Why don't you ask someone of your standards?"

"Is the whole world really in danger?"

"I SAID NO MORE QUESTIONS!"

A bright beam of light shone from the wand Lucius had been holding in his free hand, hitting Harry squarely on the chest, sending him reeling across the study room. Harry felt his head knock against hard glass as he cried out in agony. Lucius stepped towards him, a mad livid expression, illuminated by the white chandelier, on his face.

"Sorry, okay," said Lucius irritably. "If you would just _stop _asking…"

Harry got up, rubbing his head, trying to shake off any anger he might have felt towards Lucius. He was no longer sure whether the man before him who had once been one of Voldermort's followers was greedy or indeed noble.

"The other half –," Harry started, dusting his jeans.

"– The other half is no longer important. Not for now," Lucius cut him off calmly. "Now, let's go, we don't have much time. We never had much time from the start."

"If we didn't have much time, why didn't you just go straight to the point?" blurted out Harry furiously. "Instead of being all secretive? Why didn't you just tell me there was a bloody dragon in that wand?"

Despite the fact that a cold surge of anger had taken over him, Harry was sure he had made yet another blunder for asking one too many questions again. But Lucius' gray eyes lingered on his black ones, a deadly seriousness swirling within them.

"I didn't think I would have to tell you the full truth," Lucius merely said. "But I couldn't delay it anymore… The snake could be anywhere now. If we're lucky, it would be back home."

"Well, what if we're not?" demanded Harry. "It would have certainly helped if you had told me from the start!"

"I told you, Harry, we _SWORE _not to tell," snarled Lucius, provoked. "We made an unbreakable vow."

Harry almost gasped at his last statement. Staring at him with his mouth agape, Harry was unsure of what to say… at a loss for words.

"But you…," uttered Harry weakly.

"I know," replied Lucius, his gray eyes hardening. "And if you're going to ask me when that is because I'm sure that's your next question, I don't know. I guess I'm about to find out."

Lucius walked over to the door with map in his hand, Harry following suit.

"Why did you?" asked Harry curiously as Lucius wrenched the door open.

Lucius gave him one final cold glance before answering.

"My father protected the world from this evil, Harry. Snape was willing to die for Lily. I suppose I'm willing to do the same to finish off what my father has started."


	6. Misery

**A/N: Hi, thank you for keeping up with the story..;) Really appreciate it...**

**We meet Misery! Sorry the climax might sound pretty lame.. but next chapter will be heart-breaking one so stay tune!;)**

Harry awoke to the hissing sounds of the wind. Looking around him and scanning the area, he saw Lucius Malfoy resting peacefully by a large rock nearby and that they were on a grassy flat land. They had apparated together and feeling tired, Lucius decided that they should take a short break to recover and regain some strength for their quest.

Lucius saw that Harry had woken up and sat straight up.

"We're at the foot of the hill, Harry," said Lucius, pointing upwards. "Let's go up soon. We've got all the rest we need."

Harry looked up and sure enough, a tall hill loomed over him, tearing a hole in the white blue sky. A chill ran down his spine as he thought, _this is where Misery lives? _

"Are you sure the serpent is up there?" asked Harry doubtfully.

"My father studied dragons so I know a little bit about them," answered Lucius calmly as he got up to his feet, dusting his robes. "Misery is half-serpent, half-dragon. It looks like a dragon and behaves like a dragon, but is the direct descendants of serpents. Dragons tend to go back to their home for short or long recovery, depending on their injury. With any luck, the snake should be there."

Harry merely nodded in reply. How exactly they were going to stop the half-serpent-half-dragon creature, Harry did not know. They began to hike up the hill silently as Harry thought of various ways and strategies to overpower the snake, none of which seemed to convincing though. He felt the wand in his pocket – his phoenix wand – and felt a little calmer.

"You know, Snape and I grew estranged after Lily died especially," spoke Lucius, breaking the silence as they climbed up the hill. "But when I had no one – when my family was threatened and abused by the Dark Lord – he protected them. He was the only one we had."

Harry felt a lump forming in his throat. He was unsure, however, if it was the mention of his mother's name or the mention of the man who had loved his mother so deeply that was killing him slowly inside.

"He loved her more than anyone else did," uttered Harry shakily.

Lucius nodded, a look of deep resentment in his gray eyes. "I know."

By the time they were at the top of the hill, they were out of breath and exhausted, panting heavily. Harry felt his throat was dry and was as thirsty as a dehydrated camel in the desert. Lucius squatted on his knees for a while, taking huge deep breaths to gulp in as much air as he could.

A few feet away from them, stood a tall, strange-looking tree. The tree's branches were like hands and the trunk was black in colour. Harry recognised it from the pensieve as the Elder Tree. It seemed to be sneering down at them creepily, sending Harry a few shivers down his spine.

"The Elder Tree," said Lucius softly as though greeting the tree. "So many 'Elder wands' were duplicated and created from this tree – with the use of other animals such as unicorns, phoenix. But the power was only ordinary…"

Looking to the right, they saw a large cave on a higher terrain. Fear gripped Harry's heart as he stared at it. Harry could feel knots in his stomach but when he turned to Lucius, he realised the fear inside him was mirrored in Lucius' eyes too. Lucius' face was paler than usual, which made him look older than he was.

"This way, Harry," said Lucius lifelessly, walking towards the cave.

They climbed up to the cave and Harry was almost sure they were doomed – it was a suicide mission, in fact. Without warning, they heard the roaring of a monstrous animal and the cave vibrating vigorously as though something strong was causing it to rock. No one screamed, but the fear had paralysed both of them who were unable to think properly or strategise wisely.

"Think, Harry, think," said Harry furiously to himself as he backed away, his body taut.

"Wands out, Harry!" ordered Lucius as he whipped his wand out.

Harry held out his phoenix wand and his grip over it tightened when he saw the creature – it was humongous, white and green in colour and had large fangs like the basilisk. Its eyes were red and hungry. He had never seen anything like it.

The serpent hissed at them as it edged closer, slithering towards them. Suddenly, wings appeared from its back and began to fly towards them at lightning speed.

"STUPEFY!" shrieked Lucius.

In agony, the snake let out an angry scream and continued to move towards them at a slower speed. Harry did not know what to do. Lucius and him began to shout out all kinds of spells, putting on any kind of enchantment they could on the snake. But the snake was hardly weakened.

"Harry, you're a parselmouth! Talk to it!"

Harry suddenly remembered that he could speak to snakes.

"STOP ATTACKING US!" yelled Harry at the snake.

"IN PARSELTONGUE!" growled Lucius, who was having a difficult time trying to keep the snake a safe distance away from them.

Harry felt blank for a while – had he not spoken in parseltongue just a while ago? With a dread, he realised he did not. Not only that, he could not anymore. Because the part of him that talked to snakes – the part of him that was Lord Voldermort – was long dead. Any faint hope to hold the snake back and survive was gone.

"I can't anymore," replied Harry helplessly.

Lucius looked at him in shock.

"Just try, Harry. Just try!" urged Lucius with a plea in his voice.

The snake was tense again, ready to strike. Digging deep into his memory, Harry tried to remember any words in parseltongue which could possibly restrain the snake – and he finally remembered the one haunting word that Tom Riddle had said to his uncle to prevent his uncle from attacking him. Remembering the way it was hissed, Harry took a deep breath and made hissing sounds at the snake.

The snake merely stared at it, puzzled. Harry tried again – he tried to say _'stop' _like Tom Riddle had done so.

The angry hissing somewhat abated and the snake moved back and relaxed. Harry stared up at it, wide-eyed but for some reason, the snake no longer seemed dangerous to him. Harry had a weird feeling which told him that the snake was not going to attack them anymore.

The snake let out a low hiss as though it was speaking to him.

"Reply, Harry," said Lucius impatiently through gritted teeth.

But he could not – he would be found out that he was not a parselmouth. The snake obviously only listened to parselmouths.

''_Stop."_

Harry tried again and this time the snake lost the hungry look in its scarlet red eyes. Surverying Harry carefully, it retreated further and went into a resting position. Lucius nudged Harry roughly.

"We better get out of here now. At least you've managed to calm it to stop and stay here," said Lucius quickly before hurriedly running out of the cave, Harry following suit.

The snake did nothing to stop them; it no longer hissed either.

After climbing down the hill, they fell to the grass, drained of energy. From the corner of his eyes, Harry watched Lucius who was growing paler by the second.

"What now?" asked Harry curiously. "What about the other half of the wand?"

"Go find it – and – trap Misery inside," Lucius spoke slowly.

Every word was taking up his energy and his skin had a gray tinge that had not been there before.

"You alright?" asked Harry, feeling alarmed.

"I'm – fine – Harry," uttered Lucius weakly.

From one simple glance, Harry concluded that he was not fine.

"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "I'll go get help!"

"No – don't," mumbled Lucius.

Harry knelt down, staring at the seriousness in those gray eyes.

'No – one – can – help me…" said Lucius softly, as he became slacked.

"No, don't leave. Not now!" pleaded Harry. "We still need the other half, remember?!"

But Lucius' head dropped to one side of his shoulder and his face became completely slacked and devoid of emotions.


End file.
